One of the main problems to be solved is how to fit objects in a fixed position in the tyre during sometimes very long periods, which may even be as long as the service life of the tyre, while maintaining the physical and functional integrity of the tyre and of these objects in what is a highly stressful environment, both when the vehicle is moving and when it is at rest, for the tyre so equipped.
The document WO 03/070496 describes an arrangement in which the inside wall of the tyre is covered before curing with a strip of material whose surface is provided with loops, forming one piece of a touch-close attachment of the hook-and-loop type. The other piece of this attachment is provided with hooks capable of engaging in the loops of the first piece when the two pieces are brought together, after the tyre has undergone curing and before it is mounted on a wheel. The object to be installed inside the tyre cavity is attached to the non-hook side of this second piece. According to the aforementioned document, the object can be sandwiched between the faces covered with loops and hooks of the two pieces in order to hold it in the chosen position on the inside wall.
This arrangement, which makes use of a long-familiar technique for removably attaching an object to a tyre, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,294 for example, has the advantage that the object can be removed at any time when the tyre is removed from the wheel, either in order to replace it or to re-use it at the end of the life of the tyre, or to make use of certain data relating to it. However, it suffers from the defect of objects directly integrated into the tyre, since the presence of the first attachment piece of the touch-close attachment on the wall of the tyre interferes with the way in which the tyre deforms when exposed to the stresses which it experiences, both during the manufacture of the tyre, if the latter comprises one or more steps involving shaping the casing, and when the tyre is operated on a moving vehicle, when of course the wall of the tyre is deformed cyclically in each revolution of the wheel and is subjected to additional deformations as it absorbs all the loads and sometimes impacts as it travels over uneven surfaces, sometimes strewn with obstacles such as potholes, stones, kerbs, etc.